Dr. Matthias Sinnesael

• Sinnesael, M., De Vleeschouwer, D., Zeeden, C., Batenburg, S.J., Da Silva, A.-C., de Winter, N.J., Dinarès-Turell, J., Drury, A.J., Gambacorta, G., Hilgen, F.J., Hinnov, L.A., Hudson, A.J.L., Kemp, D.B., Lantink, M.L., Laurin, J., Li, M., Liebrand, D., Ma, C., Meyers, S.R., Monkenbusch, J., Montanari, A., Nohl, T., Pälike, H., Pas, D., Ruhl, M., Thibault, N., Vahlenkamp, M., Valero, L., Wouters, S., Wu, H., Claeys, P., The Cyclostratigraphy Intercomparison Project (CIP): consistency, merits and pitfalls, Earth-Science Reviews, 199, 2019Journal Article, 2019, DOI
• Matthias Sinnesael, Andrew R. Millard, Martin R. Smith, A Bayesian astrochronology for the Cambrian first occurrence of trilobites in West Gondwana (Morocco), Geology, 52, (3), 2024, p205 - 209Journal Article, 2024, URL
• Sinnesael M., Zivanovic M., De Vleeschouwer D., Claeys P., Schoukens J., Astronomical component estimation (ACE v.1) by time-variant sinusoidal modeling, Geoscientific Model Development, 9, (10), 2016, p3517 - 3531, p3517-3531Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• Sinnesael M., De Vleeschouwer D., Coccioni R., Claeys P., Frontalini F., Jovane L., Savian J.F., Montanari A., High-resolution multiproxy cyclostratigraphic analysis of environmental and climatic events across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in the classic pelagic succession of Gubbio (Italy), Special Paper of the Geological Society of America, 524, 2016, p115 - 137, p115-137Journal Article, 2016, DOI
• De Winter N.J., Sinnesael M., Makarona C., Vansteenberge S., Claeys P., Trace element analyses of carbonates using portable and micro-X-ray fluorescence: Performance and optimization of measurement parameters and strategies, Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 32, (6), 2017, p1211 - 1223, p1211-1223Journal Article, 2017, DOI
• De Vleeschouwer D., Da Silva A.-C., Sinnesael M., Chen D., Day J.E., Whalen M.T., Guo Z., Claeys P., Timing and pacing of the Late Devonian mass extinction event regulated by eccentricity and obliquity, Nature Communications, 8, (1), 2017Journal Article, 2017, DOI
• Pas D., Hinnov L., Day J.E.J., Kodama K., Sinnesael M., Liu W., Cyclostratigraphic calibration of the Famennian stage (Late Devonian, Illinois Basin, USA), Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 488, 2018, p102 - 114, p102-114Journal Article, 2018, DOI
• Sinnesael M., de Winter N.J., Snoeck C., Montanari A., Claeys P., An integrated pelagic carbonate multi-proxy study using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF): Maastrichtian strata from the Bottaccione Gorge, Gubbio, Italy, Cretaceous Research, 91, 2018, p20 - 32, p20-32Journal Article, 2018, DOI
• Sinnesael M., Zivanovic M., De Vleeschouwer D., Claeys P., Spectral Moments in Cyclostratigraphy: Advantages and Disadvantages Compared to More Classic Approaches, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 33, (5), 2018, p493 - 510, p493-510Journal Article, 2018, DOI
• Sinnesael M., Montanari A., Coccioni R., Frontalini F., Gattacceca J., Snoeck C., Wegner W., Koeberl C., Morgan L.E., De Winter N.J., DePaolo D.J., Claeys P., Multiproxy cretaceous-paleogene boundary event stratigraphy: An Umbria-marche basinwide perspective, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America, 542, 2019, p133 - 158, p133-158Journal Article, 2019, DOI
• De Cort G., Mees F., Renaut R.W., Sinnesael M., Van der Meeren T., Goderis S., Keppens E., Mbuthia A., Verschuren D., Late-Holocene sedimentation and sodium carbonate deposition in hypersaline, alkaline Nasikie Engida, southern Kenya Rift Valley, Journal of Paleolimnology, 62, (3), 2019, p279 - 300, p279-300Journal Article, 2019, DOI
• Vansteenberge S., de Winter N.J., Sinnesael M., Xueqin Z., Verheyden S., Claeys P., Benchtop "XRF as a tool for speleothem trace elemental analysis: Validation, limitations and application on an Eemian to early Weichselian (125"97"ka) stalagmite from Belgium, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 538, 2020Journal Article, 2020, DOI
• Vansteenberge S., J. De Winter N., Sinnesael M., Sinnesael M., Verheyden S., Claeys P., J. M. Van Malderen S., Vanhaecke F., Reconstructing seasonality through stable-isotope and trace-element analyses of the Proserpine stalagmite, Han-sur-Lesse cave, Belgium: Indications for climate-driven changes during the last 400 years, Climate of the Past, 16, (1), 2020, p141 - 160, p141-160Journal Article, 2020, DOI
• Mauviel A., Sinnesael M., Desrochers A., The stratigraphic and geochemical imprints of Late Ordovician glaciation on far-field neritic carbonates, Anticosti Island, eastern Canada, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 543, 2020Journal Article, 2020, DOI
• Montanari A., Farley K., Claeys P., De Vleeschouwer D., de Winter N., Vansteenberge S., Sinnesael M., Koeberl C., Stratigraphic record of the asteroidal Veritas breakup in the Tortonian Monte dei Corvi section (Ancona, Italy), Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 129, (9-10), 2017, p1357 - 1376, p1357-1376Journal Article, 2017, DOI
• de Winter N.J., Goderis S., Van Malderen S.J.M., Sinnesael M., Vansteenberge S., Snoeck C., Belza J., Vanhaecke F., Claeys P., Subdaily-Scale Chemical Variability in a Torreites Sanchezi Rudist Shell: Implications for Rudist Paleobiology and the Cretaceous Day-Night Cycle, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 35, (2), 2020Journal Article, 2020, DOI
• Da Silva A.-C., Sinnesael M., Claeys P., Davies J.H.F.L., de Winter N.J., Percival L.M.E., Schaltegger U., De Vleeschouwer D., Anchoring the Late Devonian mass extinction in absolute time by integrating climatic controls and radio-isotopic dating, Scientific Reports, 10, (1), 2020Journal Article, 2020, DOI
• Goderis S., Sato H., Ferriere L., Schmitz B., Burney D., Kaskes P., Vellekoop J., Wittmann A., Schulz T., Chernonozhkin S.M., Claeys P., de Graaff S.J., Dehais T., de Winter N.J., Elfman M., Feignon J.-G., Ishikawa A., Koeberl C., Kristiansson P., Neal C.R., Owens J.D., Schmieder M., Sinnesael M., Vanhaecke F., van Malderen S.J.M., Bralower T.J., Gulick S.P.S., Kring D.A., Lowery C.M., Morgan J.V., Smit J., Whalen M.T., Globally distributed iridium layer preserved within the Chicxulub impact structure, Science Advances, 7, (9), 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Nohl T., Steinbauer M.J., Sinnesael M., Jarochowska E., Detecting initial aragonite and calcite variations in limestone"marl alternations, Sedimentology, 68, (7), 2021, p3102 - 3115, p3102-3115Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Sinnesael M., McLaughlin P.I., Desrochers A., Mauviel A., Weirdt J.D., Claeys P., Vandenbroucke T.R.A., Precession-driven climate cycles and time scale prior to the Hirnantian glacial maximum, Geology, 49, (11), 2021, p1295 - 1300, p1295-1300Journal Article, 2021, DOI
• Wouters S., Crucifix M., Sinnesael M., Da Silva A.-C., Zeeden C., Zivanovic M., Boulvain F., Devleeschouwer X., A decomposition approach to cyclostratigraphic signal processing, Earth-Science Reviews, 225, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Vellekoop J., Kaskes P., Sinnesael M., Huygh J., Dehais T., Jagt J.W.M., Speijer R.P., Claeys P., A new age model and chemostratigraphic framework for the Maastrichtian type area (southeastern Netherlands, northeastern Belgium), Newsletters on Stratigraphy, 55, (4), 2022, p479 - 501, p479-501Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Sinnesael M., Loi A., Dabard M.-P., Vandenbroucke T.R.A., Claeys P., Cyclostratigraphy of the Middle to Upper Ordovician successions of the Armorican Massif (western France) using portable X-ray fluorescence, Geochronology, 4, (1), 2022, p251 - 267, p251-267Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Vancoppenolle I., Vellekoop J., Doubrawa M., Kaskes P., Sinnesael M., Jagt J.W.M., Claeys P., Speijer R.P., The benthic foraminiferal response to the mid-Maastrichtian event in the NW-European chalk sea of the Maastrichtian type area, Geologie en Mijnbouw/Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 101, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• de Graaff S.J., Percival L.M.E., Kaskes P., Dehais T., de Winter N.J., Jansen M.N., Smit J., Sinnesael M., Vellekoop J., Sato H., Ishikawa A., Spassov S., Claeys P., Goderis S., Geochemical records of the end-Triassic Crisis preserved in a deep marine section of the Budva Basin, Dinarides, Montenegro., Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 606, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
• Sinnesael M., Ordovician cyclostratigraphy and astrochronology, Geological Society Special Publication, 532, (1), 2023, p63 - 78, p63-78Journal Article, 2023, DOI
• Montanari A., Farley K., Coccioni R., Sabatino N., Bice D., Yesko M., Sinnesael M., de Winter N., Cosmogenic 3He anomaly K1 vs. the early Campanian isotopic event (ECE) as recorded in pelagic limestones of the Umbria-Marche succession (Italy), Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 136, (3-4), 2024, p1753 - 1767, p1753-1767Journal Article, 2024, DOI
• Laskar J., Farhat M., Lantink M.L., Auclair-Desrotour P., Boué G., and Sinnesael M., Did atmospheric thermal tides cause a daylength locking in the Precambrian? A review on recent results, Sedimentologica, 2, (1), 2024, p1 - 15Journal Article, 2024, URL
• Huang, He, Ma, Chao, Laskar, Jacques, Sinnesael, Matthias, Farhat, Mohammad, Hoang, Nam H., Gao, Yuan, Zeeden, Christian, Zhong, Hanting, Hou, Mingcai, Wang, Chengshan, Geological evidence reveals a staircase pattern in Earth"s rotational deceleration evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121, (33), 2024Journal Article, 2024, DOI
• Sinnesael, Matthias, Percival, Lawrence M.E., Schulz, Toni, Vellekoop, Johan, Goderis, Steven, Daems, Kato, Gao, Yue, Leermakers, Martine, Montanari, Alessandro, Coccioni, Rodolfo, Koeberl, Christian, Claeys, Philippe, Deep marine records of Deccan Trap volcanism before the Cretaceous"Paleogene (K"Pg) mass extinction, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 2024Journal Article, 2024, DOI
• Huang, He, Zhong, Hanting, Ma, Chao, Sinnesael, Matthias, Gao, Yuan, Li, Yuyin, Hou, Mingcai, Wang, Chengshan, A new method to evaluate the power ratio distributions of astronomical signals: A case study from Upper Cretaceous terrestrial sediments, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 136, (7-8), 2024, p3377-3390Journal Article, 2024, DOI
• Zivanovic Miroslav, Sinnesael Matthias, Eccentricity curve estimation from geological data using sinusoidal modeling, Computers & Geosciences, 2025, p105866-Journal Article, 2025

I am broadly interested in the fields of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, palaeoclimatology, stratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy & astrochronology and geochemistry. Below I give some examples of how these interests manifest themselves in various types of projects. Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction How did life and climate evolve through the Earth`s past? Today we can observe how, and at what speed, the environment around us is changing. Global climate change is already affecting our daily lives by changing temperature and precipitation patterns. In order to get a longer time perspective on such changes, and to gain more insight in boundary conditions that we cannot observe today, we have to study the environments of the past, also called palaeoenvironments. To do so, we use proxies that can inform us about changes that occurred in past palaeoenvironments and that are recorded in geological archives like sediments, peatbogs or fossils. I am interested in rocks of all ages, but most commonly work with Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks that are about 540 to 250 million years old. Integrated Stratigraphy - Cyclostratigraphy & Astrochronology To understand how and when palaeoenvironmental changes occurred, we must be able to structure the relative occurrence of geological archives and determine their temporal dimensions. Ideally one tries to integrate various sources of stratigraphic information to do so. I am specialised in the fields of cyclostratigraphy and astrochronology. Cyclostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy relating to the sedimentary record of astronomically forced palaeoclimate change. Astrochronology pertains to the calibration of geologic time by the Earth`s astronomical parameters by means of cyclostratigraphy. Numerical approaches in (cyclo-)stratigraphy I have a special interest in the development of numerical approaches for integrated stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy. By working with signal-processing engineers we explore how advanced time-series analysis techniques might be useful for geological applications. During my post-doc at Durham University (UK) I learned how to use Bayesian statistics to address the challenge of stratigraphic correlation and age-depth modelling. Another main interest is how geological data can be used to inform astronomical models and solutions of past Solar System dynamics (post-doc at the Observatoire de Paris, France). Cyclostratigraphy Intercomparison Project Community building. Different scientists might approach similar problems in different ways. The initial `Cyclostratigraphy Intercomparison Project` (CIP) was motivated by a simple question: "What happens if we give the same problem to a range of colleagues, let them analyse the problem independently, and then join forces to learn from each other and improve things towards the future". More information on the CIP project, and cyclostratigraphy in general can be found on the following webpage: https://www.cyclostratigraphy.org International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 395: Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate During the summer of 2023 I had the opportunity to sail as a stratigraphic correlator and physical properties specialist on the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 395: Reykjanes Mantle Convection and Climate. The goal of the expedition was to better understand the structure of the magmatic rocks around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and their interaction with the Icelandic mantle plume, as well as the palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatological reconstructions of the North Atlantic Ocean over the last millions of years. I am especially interested in things like unraveling the stratigraphic architecture of these sediments; better understanding their composition and what they tell us about climatic changes as the development of ice-sheets in the Northern Hemisphere, past variations in the Gulfstream, or past volcanic activity on Iceland.

• Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) 4-year Ph.D. Fellowship 2015-2019

• EGU, AGU, GSA, IAS

• Journal Reviewer
• Journal Reviewer